Beyoncé’s Bowl 2024: A Mama's Love Letter to Reclamation and Legacy

Watching Beyoncé’s 2024 Christmas halftime performance hit differently. As a Black woman from South Jamaica, Queens, who has walked the red clay of Spelman College and now navigates the ivory tower of academia, her show felt like a mirror—reflecting both where I come from and the dreams I’m chasing. At least in terms of accessibility for Black people and visibility for Black women. Beyoncé didn’t just perform; she preached. Her artistry was an answer to Anna Julia Cooper’s The Ethics of the Negro Question, reminding us that our existence, our joy, and our reclamation of space is a moral act, a necessary act.

Reclaiming Space, Redefining Americana

Beyoncé rode into that stadium on horseback like she owned the place—and she did. Dressed in all-white cowboy attire, she flipped the script on what America thinks it means to be a cowboy or cowgirl. That moment felt like Cooper’s words come to life: “When and where I enter… the whole race enters with me.” Beyoncé wasn’t just stepping into a space that has historically excluded us—she was making that space ours.

Country music, like so many American cultural staples, has its roots in Blackness, yet we’ve been erased from its narrative. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album and this performance said, No, we’re still here. We’ve always been here. As a scholar and educator, I saw this as a reminder of the importance of our work. Whether I’m teaching my ENL students or diving into philosophical questions about identity and knowledge, I’m doing the same thing Beyoncé did on that stage—reclaiming spaces, re-centering Blackness, and demanding that our contributions be recognized.

A Mother’s Legacy

When Blue Ivy joined her mother for a line dance during “Texas Hold ’Em,” I couldn’t help but think about my daughter, Sage Ali. Beyoncé isn’t just building her legacy; she’s showing the world how to raise the next generation to walk confidently in their own brilliance. That moment spoke to me as a mother who balances the weight of generational expectations with the joy of shaping my child’s future. I recognize that despite socioeconomic differences raising Black girls is no easy feat.

Anna Julia Cooper’s essay argues that our ethics must extend beyond individual gain to the uplift of our communities. Beyoncé embodies that. By putting Blue Ivy on that stage, she showed us what it looks like to live for something bigger than yourself. It reminded me why I do what I do. I’m not just writing papers or designing programs for students—I’m planting seeds, ensuring that Sage Ali and every Black girl like her can thrive in a world that often tries to dim their light if not just snuff it out completely.

From Toronto to Queens: Beyoncé and the Beyhive

Kim and I were lucky enough to see Beyoncé perform in Toronto during her Renaissance tour in 2023, and the memory of that night still gives me chills. The energy, the visuals, the sense of community in the crowd—it was like stepping into another world where Black joy and creativity were center stage. As a proud member of the Beyhive, watching Beyoncé live feels like a spiritual experience, like she’s speaking directly to us. Moments like that remind me why I’ve been a part of her journey for so long—because she doesn’t just perform, she builds a world where we can all see ourselves reflected. Somewhat, because as I get older I do engage with the nuances of our identities individually as Black women.

Getting ready to see Bey G. Knowles Carter

It also makes me wonder what a conversation between Beyoncé and bell hooks would look like. Hooks, with her critical lens on capitalism and feminism, and Beyoncé, with her ability to weave those same critiques into her art, would have had so much to say to each other. I imagine they’d discuss the tension between visibility and vulnerability, between power and the responsibility to one’s community. Watching Beyoncé’s career unfold feels like witnessing an ongoing dialogue with hooks’ work—a living example of what it means to embody feminist ethics while navigating systems designed to exclude us.

Ethics, Art, and Access

Cooper’s Ethics of the Negro Question challenges us to consider the moral responsibility we carry as Black people to transform society. Beyoncé’s decision to stream her performance live on Netflix felt like a direct response to that call. She didn’t just perform for the people in the stadium—she made sure the world could see it. That’s the kind of intentionality I strive for in my work.

As an educator, I think constantly about access—who gets to learn, who gets to thrive, and who gets left behind. Beyoncé’s streaming partnership reminded me that we have the power to create spaces where everyone can be included, where no one gets left behind. That’s the kind of world I’m working to build for Sage Ali, for my students, and for my community. Over the holiday vacation, I had the pleasure of re-reading and reading for the first time some of Dr. Cooper's works and she has continued to be an inspiration in the kind of Black Christian Scholar Educator I seek to be.

Living the Question

Beyoncé’s halftime show was more than a performance; it was reclamation, legacy, and the ethics of representation. It was art and philosophy in motion. It reminded me of Cooper’s insistence that Black women’s experiences and contributions are central to the moral questions of our time. As a scholar, mother, and proud Spelman woman, I see my life and work as part of that same tradition of breaking barriers and making change a little at a time.

Beyoncé’s message was clear: we belong in every space. We belong in the boardrooms, the classrooms, the stages, and the stadiums. And when we enter, we don’t just enter for ourselves—we carry our families, our ancestors, and our communities with us. That’s not just ethics; that’s revolution. It is not perfect and it may not always be enough for everyone but it is authentic and it is from the heart.

Watching her performance, I felt seen, inspired, and recharged. It reminded me why I do what I do—why I keep pushing through the challenges of academia, why I advocate for my students, and why I’m raising Sagey to walk boldly into her future. Beyoncé’s show wasn’t just entertainment; it was a declaration. And like Cooper, she made it plain: when we show up as Black women, the world shifts.